


You don't cry as silently as you think you do

by stormthedarkcity



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22932115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormthedarkcity/pseuds/stormthedarkcity
Summary: Warden Mahariel's life is a bit of a mess, these days.
Relationships: Leliana & Warden (Dragon Age)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	You don't cry as silently as you think you do

Mahariel leaves her tent long before her watch is meant to begin, pushed by the restlessness that never seems to leave her these days.

Leliana is sitting on a rock by the dying fire, silhouette lit by the moonlight. She’s wrapped up in a thick pelt they traded against a few artefacts before leaving Lothering. Her bow is propped up against her knee, three arrows neatly notched in the dirt in front of her.

“Oh, Nelora!” she murmurs when she sees her. She shifts under the pelt. “I can take your turn as well, if you want to rest some more,” she offers, not quite meeting her eyes.

Mahariel shakes her head, eyebrows knit together. “I’ll be fine.” She stabs her longsword in the dirt at her feet.

“Nelora…” Leliana looks straight at her this time. She gets to her feet in a flash and extends a hand towards her shoulder.

Mahariel forces herself not to budge. She’s promised herself she’d stopped flinching away from humans. When she doesn’t move forward either, Leliana lets her hand drop.

“What is it?” Mahariel asks, her tone harsher than intended.

Leliana stares at her with an unreadable expression. “You don’t cry as silently as you think you do,” she finally murmurs.

It’s an ugly sentence, and it makes Mahariel’s skin crawl with all kinds of ugly feelings. She wants to respond with something that hurts just as much, something that’ll make her leave her alone, but instead all that she can croak out is, “I miss them.”

From the corner of her eye, she sees Leliana nodding slowly. She can’t bring herself to look at her, doesn’t want to see the pity on her face. “I miss my clan,” she continues to herself. “My Keeper.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “I miss Tamlen.” She wraps her arms around herself and lets her head hang low. Her eyes sting. She hates this.

“Who’s Tamlen?” Leliana asks in a murmur.

Mahariel shakes her head vigorously. “No.” She rips her sword from the ground and buries it again, deeper. The vibration in the hilt is reassuring in her palm. “I’m not talking about him.” She takes a few deep breaths, until her tears don’t threaten to spill anymore.

At her side, Leliana shifts clumsily under her pelt. “Will you let me spend your shift with you?” Before Mahariel can protest, she adds, “We don’t have to talk. I just don’t want you to be alone.”

She looks up at Leliana. Her eyes are wide, pleading, almost as though she’s the one in need of comfort. Mahariel waves dismissively. “Alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt fill for [tumblr](https://stormthedarkcity.tumblr.com/post/180424133163/)


End file.
